President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked Al Jazeera Media Network to retract and apologise within seven (7) days it’s unfair and inaccurate ‘Gold Mafia’ documentary against him and the Government of Ghana.
Al Jazeera’s in its recent investigation, ‘Gold Mafia’ said it has uncovered a band of criminals driving gold smuggling and money laundering worth billions of dollars in Southern Africa.
Alistair Mathias, described by the investigative reporters as a financial architect who builds money laundering schemes for corrupt politicians, was approached by undercover journalists posing as Chinese criminals to help them launder money from China.
Speaking to the undercover reporters in other to strike a deal, Alistair Mathias alleged that President Akufo-Addo was his friend and his lawyer too.
Alistair had earlier revealed that he had been smuggling US$40 million worth of gold from Ghana monthly—thus, US$480 million worth of gold annually.
But, in a letter signed by the executive secretary to the president, Nana Bediatuo Asante has given Al Jazeera seven days to retract and apologise to President Akufo-Addo and the Government of Ghana.
“I am instructed by the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to demand formally that Al Jazeera Media Network (Al Jazeera”) retract immediately and apologise for airing an inaccurate and unfair documentary that contained spurious and unsubstantiated allegations against the President and the Government of Ghana.”
The letter further stated that “It is imperative that you act forthwith on this request within seven days from the day of receipt of this letter,”
Spurious publication
Meanwhile, Guldrest Resources Company Ltd, a gold exporting company, registered in Ghana, and at the centre of the recent publication by Al-Jazeera, has responded to the investigative piece, has described it as “spurious, a bunch of untruths and bereft of substance.”
It has also been revealed that the main character in the investigative piece, Alistair Jude Mathias, has no connection with President Akufo-Addo nor President Akufo-Addo’s Law firm he founded.
Moreover, his claim that “Ghana’s president [Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo] is a good friend of mine. In fact, he was my lawyer,” is completely false.
Reacting to the comments made by Alistair Mathias, Kow Essuman, Kow Essuman, the President’s legal counsel also described Mathias’s allegations as spurious and called on Ghanaians to ignore them.
Eow Essuman emphasised that President Akufo-Addo has not been in private practice since 2000 and insisted that his client has never acted as Mathias’s counsel.
“The president has not been in private practice since 2000; neither has the president nor his law firm, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co, acted as lawyer for this Alistair Mathias or Guldrest. The president does not know this Mathias or Guldrest. Ignore the spurious allegations,” said Essuman on Twitter.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
